BANGKOK: The Laos government said on Saturday it was “profoundly saddened” by the deaths of foreign tourists in Vang Vieng, with the toll from a suspected methanol poisoning incident now at six.

Two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians have now died after being rushed to hospital following a night out in backpacker hot spot Vang Vieng. They were among a group of several foreigners who fell ill and were rushed to hospital shortly after Nov 12.

In a statement on its website, Laos’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday it expressed “sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased”, adding an investigation was underway.

Australian Holly Bowles, 19, became the incident’s latest fatality on Friday when she died in a Bangkok hospital surrounded by family.

Canberra is pressing Laotian authorities for a full and transparent investigation into what happened.

Vang Vieng has been a fixture on the Southeast Asia backpacker trail since Laos’ secretive communist rulers opened the country to tourism decades ago. The town was once synonymous with backpackers behaving badly at jungle parties but has since re-branded as an eco-tourism destination.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2024